only a few minutes to pick up a package from the lobby.
When he came back upstairs, the cash was gone.
My mother had been the only other person inside the apartment.
I turned toward her, my heart pounding.
“Mom, did you take the money from his desk?”
She was holding her swollen cheek with both hands, tears filling her eyes.
“No, sweetie,” she whispered. “I swear to God I didn’t touch it.”
Brandon gave a harsh, cruel laugh.
“Oh, sure. So those hundred-dollar bills just magically grew legs and
